Thursday, June 28, 2012

Arise Book Review

Annotation:
Although
Amelia and Joshua are trying to make the most of their lives together, Amelia
wonders if she, being a ghost, can really give Josh the life he deserves. After
the pair travel to New Orleans with Joshua’s family for Christmas, Amelia
inadvertently takes part in a powerful voodoo ritual that will change her
afterlife forever.

Personal
thoughts: I was a huge, huge fan of Hereafter,
and so I was eagerly anticipating this sequel for quite some time. After
reading it, however, I’m not quite sure what to think. Everything I really
liked about Hereafter was gone:
Amelia learning who or what she is, her saving Joshua from drowning, their
falling in love, her battling Eli. I understand that the author had to change
up the story, but I don’t think I’ve read another sequel that is so starkly
different from the first novel. Overall, I would say that Arise is a good book, but I wish that somehow the tone or feel of
the novel would have felt at least slightly familiar. Either way, I plan to
read the third novel when it’s released next year and would still highly
recommend this series for tween and teen readers.

Plot summary:
Now
that Eli has been banished to the dark netherworld, Amelia has eternity, or
however long her afterlife lasts, to spend with her boyfriend, Joshua Mayhew.
But what kind of life can she offer Joshua; she is invisible to everyone but
Joshua’s sister, Jillian, she can’t touch Joshua for more than a few minutes
without materializing somewhere else, and she will be eighteen forever, forced
to watch Joshua grow older. To make matters worse, Amelia has also become
plagued by terrible nightmares of a strange place with a mysterious woman who
warns her that she is in danger. When Amelia travels with Joshua and his family
to spend Christmas in New Orleans, she hopes that the change of scenery will
keep her, and the people she loves, safe from whatever is hunting her. But when
she and Joshua meet a beautiful girl in a voodoo shop who promises that she can
help solve their problems, Amelia inadvertently agrees to take part in a
powerful ceremony that will change her afterlife forever.

Review: This
highly-anticipated follow-up to Tara Hudson’s bestselling novel, Hereafter, proves to be a bit of departure
from the original book, but one that manages to take the story in an unlikely
direction. The events in the first novel are very, very different from the
sequel. Gone is Amelia’s quest to learn who she is, how she died, etc.,
replaced instead by her desire to ensure that her boyfriend, Joshua, is able to
live a safe and normal life. This is somewhat odd considering that, in Hereafter, they met when Joshua nearly
drowned and proceeded to battle a rogue spirit, but Arise explores this concept quite a bit regardless. The setting
also changes drastically, from Oklahoma to the French Quarter. The voodoo
element also makes for a new addition to the overall feel of the book, as does
the result of the ritual that Amelia takes part in. The events of the story
make for an effective platform from which the third and final novel in the
trilogy can continue on, but, overall, the tone of Arise is different enough from the book that it makes the reader
wonder what exactly to expect in the last installment. To say that the sequel
is unsuccessful or not as good as the first book in the series wouldn’t be
accurate, but fans of Hereafter
should be warned that they are in for something very different in almost every
way possible. The third novel, Elegy,
is set to be released in 2013.

Genre: Fiction/Supernatural

Reading
level: Grade 7+

Similar
titles: Hereafter by Tara
Hudson, Soul Screamers series by
Rachel Vincent, Anna Dressed in Blood by
Kendare Blake, Everneath by Brodi
Ashton.

Pages

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Welcome to my blog! I'm a librarian who loves to read...unusual, right? This blog contains my reviews and thoughts about the books I read, and other information for tweens, teens, parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else who loves books. Enjoy!